Big drop in fertility rates

12.05.2023 - 14:57

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The Faroese fertility rate dropped below the so-called replacement rate last year

Photo: Statistics Faroe Islands

After a couple of decades with a steady average fertility rate of about 2.5 children for women of childbearing age (15-49 years), the rate has now dropped significantly, reports Statistics Faroe Islands

The fertility rate dropped to 2.4 in 2019, went further down to 2.3 in 2020 and 2021, and last year it dipped all the way down to 2.05.

This is below the 2.1 threshold, which is regarded as the minimum fertility rate required to maintain a steady population.

If the total fertility rate is below 2.1, a generation of women of childbearing age becomes unable to replace itself, leading to a population decline.

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Unless the rate increases, the only way to prevent population decline is by increasing the number of women of childbearing age through immigration.

“When we experience such a sharp decline in fertility rates in such a short period, it is crucial that we look at the societal changes that have brought about this sudden change. Things like these do not happen by chance,” says Hans Pauli Strøm, a political scientist at Statistics Faroe Islands.

Despite this downward trend, the Faroese fertility rate remains the highest in Europe, as can be seen in the graph below.